Polity July

8/10/2019 Polity July

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/polity-july 1/46

KIIWJuly Polity





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Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com

Content

'Govt. for uniform surrender policy for Maoists' 13

Law Commission recommends fixed tenure for CJI 13

No executive takeover of judicial appointments: govt. 14

'Collegium system: solution worse than the disease' 15

Restoring the judiciary's credibility 15

Mr. Chavan held to account 16

Commissions of Enquiry have no contempt power, says SC 17

Polio vaccination of travellers from Pakistan 'ineffective' 17

Repeating RTI applications shall be ground for refusal: CIC 18

Priority Sectors in North East 18

Planned Development of North-Eastern Region 19

Centring the Northeast 21

Panel suggests separate law to protect northeast people 22

Bezbaruah Committee submitted its report to Ministry of Home Affairs 22

CJI hits out at Centre 23

Centre notifies rules for govt. staff under Lokpal Act 23

Incentives to Industries to Boost Economic Growth 24

16 National Investment and Manufacturing Zones(NIMZS) to Boost Manufacturin 24



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Content

National Mineral Policy 25

Production of Defence Equipment 25

LoP issue: Kharge meets Lok Sabha Speaker 26

PM launches MyGov portal to enable Govt-citizen discussions 26

SC Constitution Bench to decide on ̀living will' to die with dignity 27

Law Commission of India Submits its Report on Setting Up New Courts in the 27

Chhattisgarh sticks to its stand that governors have no discretionary 28

Targeting NGOs 28

Reforming statutory codes 29

President rejects six mercy petitions 30

IPV offers better protection from polio virus 31

SC restrains States on giving remission to life convicts 31

Legalising intelligence gathering 32

Money power in Indian elections 33

National Water Policy 34

Rising intolerance against NGOs and free speech 35

Government favours Aadhaar-NPR synergy 37

Officials with Doubtful Integrity 37



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Content

Law Commission Report on 'Death Penalty' 38

Are you listening in on me? 40



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Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com Page 1

Interstate River Water Disputes Thu, Jul 17, 2014interstate river water dispute, PIB, polity,

The inter-State river water sharing disputes relating to Godavari, Krishna (of May

1976), and Narmada are settled with the publication of decisions of respective Tribunal.

The Ministry of Water Resources provides Central Assistance under the Accelerated

Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP), to the State Governments to speed up the

implementation of on-going irrigation projects.

Inter-State Water Dispute Mon, Jul 14, 2014inter state water dispute, PIB, polity, river water dispute, river,

Ravi & Beas Water Tribunal Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan Cauvery Water Disputes

Tribunal Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puduchery Krishna Water Disputes

Tribunal -II Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra VansadharaWater Disputes

Tribunal Andhra Pradesh &Odisha MahadayiWater Disputes Tribunal Goa, Karnataka

and Maharashtra

i. Mullaperiyar Dam for implementing the order dated 7.5.2014 of the Hon'ble Supreme

Court.

ii. Babhali Barrage on 24.10.2013 for implementation of the Order dated 28.2.2013 of

Hon'ble Supreme Court.

Scuttling Inconvenient Judicial Appointments Sat, Jul 12, 2014 EPW, polity, judiciary, supreme court,

Consider the facts: four names including those of Gopal Subramanium (along with

another former solicitor general, Rohinton Nariman, and two high court chief justices,

Adarsh Goel and Arun Mishra) had been unanimously recommended for appointment

to the Supreme Court in early May by the five-member collegium headed by Chief

Justice of India R M Lodha.

The attempt to undermine the independence of the judiciary originated in 1973, after

the Kesavananda Bharati 5 judgment (which struck down some constitutional amendmentsby saying that the basic structure of the Constitution could not be amended). At that

time, judges were appointed by the government in "consultation" with the Chief Justice

of India as provided for by the Constitution. The government then said that it was not

bound by the advice of the Chief Justice. Successive Congress governments thereafter,

especially during the tenure of law minister, H R Bharadwaj, appointed judges who

had proximity to the government. The subversion of the independence of the judiciary



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by the appointment of convenient judges became a major issue, especially with increasing

corruption within the executive.

The issue of the manner of appointment of judges was first raised in S P Gupta's case

6 in 1981. The question was whether the government or the Chief Justice should have

primacy in the matter of appointment of judges, especially because the independence

of the judiciary had been declared a basic feature of the Constitution. In that case, the

majority held that primacy in judicial appointments was with the government and it

could disregard the opinion of the Chief Justice of India in the matter of appointments

and transfers of judges and chief justices. But as this led to more brazenly partisan

appointments, the issue was referred to a larger bench for reconsideration.

Finally in 1993, the view in S P Gupta's case was reversed by an innovative judgment

in the Supreme Court Advocates on Records case, 7 which wrested the control in the

matter of judicial appointments from the executive and vested it with the judiciary. The

words "in consultation with the chief justice" was interpreted to mean, "with the consentof the chief justice". The meaning of chief justice was interpreted as a collegium of the

Chief Justice of India plus three senior judges of the Court. In fact, a new elaborate

procedure was laid out by the Court for appointment of judges, in which the role of the

government was reduced to returning a name recommended by the collegium for

reconsideration. If the collegium reiterated its recommendation, the President would

have no option but to go through with the appointment. High court appointments would

also go through a similar procedure, except that the recommendations there would

originate from the collegium of the high courts.

In 1998, the Supreme Court further tweaked its judgment of 1993 in a Presidential

Reference on this issue. 8 The collegium was widened to five judges. Consultation with

other judges in the court who came from the same high court as the proposed nominee

was also provided for. But the control over the appointments continued to vest with the

judiciary.

This system of appointment of judges by the judiciary did lead to the depoliticisation

of the judiciary to a large extent and did substantially improve its independence. But

the process of appointments was still shrouded in secrecy and with the control over

appointments in the hands of sitting judges who had little free time in the midst of their

judicial work, coupled with the lack of transparency in such appointments, led to

nepotism and arbitrary appointments.

There were also serious voices like that of Justice Krishna Iyer who called this an

incestuous system and a snatching of appointments by abuse of judicial power. 9 Even

Justice J S Verma, the author of the original judgment, came to say that he did not

anticipate that his judgment would lead to such poor appointments by the judiciary. 10

The Committee on Judicial Accountability 11 (a voluntary body of senior lawyers and



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retired judges) proposed a bill for the constitution of a full-time and independent body

called the Judicial Appointments Commission for the selection of judges to the high

courts and the Supreme Court It was proposed that such a body could be constituted

from among retired judges or other eminent persons who would be selected in the

following manner: The chairman to be selected by the collegium of all judges of theSupreme Court. A second member by the collegium of all chief justices of the high

courts. A third member by the union cabinet. A fourth by collegium of the leaders of

opposition of the two houses of Parliament along with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

A fifth by a collegium of the chief election commissioner, the comptroller and auditor

general and the central vigilance commissioner. Each of these members of the Judicial

Appointments Commission would have a tenure of five years and would thus be

independent of the government as well as of the sitting judiciary.

This body would be mandated to function transparently and would have to publish the

persons shortlisted for appointment for the information of and comments by the public

before the final selection was made. Being a full-time body, it would lay down thecriteria for selection and would be mandated to go about its task in a structured and

rational manner.

A National Judicial Commission Bill of 2013 12 was eventually introduced by the UPA

government, which sought to create an appointments commission in which the

appointments pie was sought to be divided almost equally between the judiciary and

the government. The proposed commission was supposed to have the three senior-most

judges of the Supreme Court along with the law minister and two eminent persons

nominated by a committee consisting of the prime minister, leader of opposition in the

Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. Thus, the commission was still conceived aslargely an ex officio body of people who would have little time to devote to appointments

and it also did not lay down any standards of transparency in making the appointments.

This bill too ran into a lot of criticism from various quarters, particularly from judges

and the legal community. It was therefore not taken further and has now lapsed with

the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.

When the Government Leans on Judges Sat, Jul 12, 2014 EPW, polity, judiciary, supreme court,

Prior to 1993 the executive had the upper hand, with the requirement of consulting the judiciary but not obliged to accept its views. The Second Judges Case virtually reversed

this position, and in the Presidential Reference of 1998 set down the details of the

collegium system. The names are to be put forth by a collegium consisting of the Chief

Justice of India (CJI) and his four senior-most colleagues. The government may return

a name with objections; but if the collegium still reiterates its choice, the appointment

must go through. The judiciary has the first, and last, word.



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The 1993 decision itself was accepted without much protest by the political class, which

was surprising since it was a major constitutional shift achieved without amendment.

Over the years the executive has largely accepted the appointments proposed by the

Court. Where there was a difference, the judges prevailed.

Gopal Subramanium, however, was in a different category. He has never been a judge

before; he fell under another category envisioned in Article 124, viz, advocates. Since

Independence only a handful of judges have come from this source - notably Chief

Justice S M Sikri, Justices Kuldip Singh and Santosh Hegde.

The collegium system has been criticised by almost everyone but the collegium for

being opaque and non-transparent without giving even legitimate stakeholders like the

Bar a chance to scrutinise the proposed appointees. The judicial commission under

discussion contemplates members other than the CJI and two senior judges; the law

minister is on it, and the prime minister has a say in appointing two more. The judiciary

has been wary of sharing its turf, and has resisted this proposal. Given the recent

happenings, will it dig in even more? And will other players scent a warning in the

winds that blew last month? This government blocked an appointment without being

on the appointing body; what will happen when it is part of it?

Stand-off looms over LoP issue Sun, Jul 6, 2014The Hindu, LoP, polity, leader of opposition,

The Congress case for grant of the LoP status is that it is not just a matter of status or

perquisites or the ministerial rank that goes with the post that is important. What iscritical is that the LoP in the Lok Sabha, thanks to Supreme Court decisions and

legislative provisions, now plays a much larger systemic role.

The official LoP is a member of panels that selects key officials, including the Chief

Commissioner of the Central Vigilance Commission , the Chief Information Commissioner,

the Lokpal, the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, the National Human

Rights Commission and the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha.

Debate over a critical officeTue, Jul 29, 2014The Hindu, polity, leader of opposition,

That precedent was followed by the Congress itself when in power, and for long periods

in the history of the Lok Sabha there was no recognised leader of the opposition. The

rationale was that the leader of the opposition being in line to form an alternative

government should be able to hold the House with the required quorum of 10 per cent

of its strength. The 10 per cent rule was established by G.V. Mavalankar and incorporated



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later in the Directions for the functioning of the Lok Sabha as Direction 121, though it

did not mention the LoP as such. The 1998 law concerning the facilities to be given to

leaders and whips of recognised parties and groups, which fixes 55 as the minimum

number of members required for recognition as a Parliamentary Party in the lower

House, does not mention the LoP either. It is the 1977 statute on the LoP's salary thatdoes so. And that definition says the LoP shall be the leader of the party in opposition

with the greatest numerical strength and "recognised as such" by the Speaker. While

the statute itself is silent on it, the question arises if the Speaker, while recognising the

LoP, needs to go by parliamentary precedent and Direction 121.

Further, there are recent laws that require the leader of the opposition to be part of

selection panels for the Central Vigilance Commissioner, the Chief Information

Commissioner, the Lokpal and the CBI Director. Some of the relevant Acts do say that

where no person has been recognised as the LoP, the leader of the opposition party with

the largest numerical strength may play that role. A recognised leader of the opposition

is necessary for the proper and harmonious functioning of Parliament and for the workingof several of the recently enacted laws. Legal ambiguity, the Congress party's own

flawed record and the BJP's triumphalism over its rival's poor electoral performance,

should not stand in the way of an important parliamentary office being filled.

No decision yet on LoP status to Congress Sat, Jul 5, 2014The Hindu, polity, leader of opposition,

he rules have been framed in 1977 and would be followed. He also cited the example

of 1984 when the TDP was not accorded the status.

While Congress has secured 44 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, government

managers have said it was less than the requisite strength of 10 per cent of the House's

total strength to make the party eligible to get the post

Insisting that the powers of the Speaker are "neither arbitrary, nor unbridled or unilateral"

on deciding the issue, Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said the post of the

Leader of the Opposition is a "constitutional right" of Congress as the biggest party in

the opposition as also the biggest pre-poll alliance.

Regulators' appointment: Presence of Leader of Opposition not a must, says Tue, Jul 15, 2014 polity, leader of opposition, Businessline,

the presence of a Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha is mandatory in the appointment

of statutory watchdogs such as the Central Vigilance Commissioner, the Central

Information Commissioner and, of course, the Lok Pal.



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The Act itself provides for the vacancy in the collegium. The absence, or vacancy,

makes no difference to the appointment process

Section 4 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, concerning appointment of the

Chairman and Members of the Lokpal, envisages the process of selection of a national

ombudsman in Clause 1.

The Chairperson and Members shall be appointed by the President after obtaining the

recommendations of a Selection Committee consisting of (a) the Prime Minister; (b)

the Speaker of the House of the People; (c) the Leader of Opposition in the House of

the People; (d) the Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated

by him; and (e) one eminent jurist as recommended by the Chairperson and Members,

the Government source pointed out, it is followed by Clause (2), which says "no

appointment of a Chairperson or a Member shall be invalid merely by reason of any

vacancy in the Selection Committee."

In other words, there will be no countervailing opinion and the Government will have

a free run in the appointment of CVC, CIC, members of the Lok Pal as well as the

Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The CBI was sought to be given autonomous status last year, when its Director was

appointed by a collegium similar to the Lokpal. Additionally, the CVC monitors all

vigilance activities in the Central government.

The statutes have been created to fight corruption in public life and ensure accountability

on the part of public officials, including the Prime Minister. The presence of the Leader

of Opposition in all these panels has been deemed necessary to ensure autonomy and

independent functioning of these watchdogs.

Centre questions another collegium decision Tue, Jul 15, 2014The Hindu, polity, collegium, Supreme Court,

The Centre has sought a clarification from the Supreme Court collegium headed by

Chief Justice R.M. Lodha on the recommendation to elevate Justice K.L. Manjunath

of the Karnataka High Court as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Highly placed sources in the Law Ministry told The Hindu that clarification was being

sought in view of certain complaints received against him by the government. Sources

said the Ministry wanted to ascertain from the collegium whether these complaints had

been considered before making the recommendations.

Mr. Justice Manjunath's elevation will come through only if the collegium reiterates

the recommendation by giving the required clarification.



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The Centre's move has come within weeks of its opposition to the elevation of senior

advocate Gopal Subramanium as a Supreme Court judge. Justice Ashutosh Mohunta,

who was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court in September 2010, has been

shifted back to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on medical grounds.

Shariat courts have no legal sanctity: Supreme Court Mon, Jul 7, 2014Shariat courts, The Hindu, polity, Supreme Court,

The Supreme Court held on Monday that fatwas issued by Muslim shariat courts

(Dar-ul-Qazas) do not have legal sanctity and cannot be enforced if they infringed on

the fundamental rights of an individual.

Disposing of the petition, the Bench said the fatwa had no legal sanction. "It cannot be

enforced by any legal process, either by the Dar-ul-Qaza issuing it or the person

concerned, or for that matter anybody."

The Bench said the fatwa could simply be ignored. "In case a person or a body tries to

impose it, the act would be illegal." The Bench said fatwas on rights, status and obligation

of individual Muslims, in its opinion, would not be permissible unless asked for by the

person concerned or, in cases where the person is unable to do it, by the person interested.

"Fatwas touching upon the rights of an individual at the instance of rank strangers may

cause irreparable damage and, therefore, would be absolutely uncalled for. It shall be

in violation of basic human rights. It cannot be used to punish the innocent. No religion,

including Islam, punishes the innocent," the Bench said.

Workload on the highest judiciary is excessive: SC Thu, Jul 10, 2014The Hindu, polity, Supreme Court,

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that workload on it is "excessive" and inflow of

cases before it is "uncontrolled" and asked the Bar to suggest measures for speedy

disposal of cases.

Justice Lodha said he had recently interacted with 12 Chief Justices of other countries

and none of their Supreme Courts handles such a large number of cases.

In some Supreme Courts, only 150 appeals are heard in a year and the CJs were astonished

when I told them that on Monday and Friday, we deal with at least 800-900 cases," he

said.



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Collegium stands firm on Justice Manjunath Wed, Jul 16, 2014The Hindu, polity, collegium, Supreme Court,

The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha on Tuesday stoodfirm on its recommendation to elevate Karnataka High Court Justice K.L. Manjunath

as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. It rejected the Law Ministry's

objections, in having returned the Karnataka judge's file for reconsideration, as baseless

and unfounded.

With the recommendation having been reiterated, the Centre is bound to accept the

collegium's decision to elevate Justice Manjunath. At the most, the government can

delay the process of appointment.

The Ministry wanted to ascertain from the collegium whether certain allegations in the

complaints received were considered before making the recommendations.

The Centre had earlier put on hold the elevation of senior advocate Gopal Subramanium

as a Supreme Court judge. The CJI had criticised the government for unilaterally

segregating his file and approving the elevation of three High Court Chief Justices. The

collegium accepted Mr. Subramanium's letter withdrawing his consent and put an end

to the controversy.

Misunderstanding a good judgment Sat, Jul 19, 2014The Hindu, polity, fatwa, supreme court,

A bare reading of its judgment delivered on July 7 in Vishwa Lochan Madan v. Union

of India would suggest otherwise.

At the outset, both the Court and the petitioner have confused two issues. The first is

of fatwas being issued by clerics, and the second is of shariat courts. The two issues

are independent and distinct. A fatwa is an opinion on a religious matter which ought

to be sought from and delivered by a well-read religious scholar. As is the case with

every opinion, it is up to the querist to accept or reject it.

From the early twentieth century, an institution called the Dar-ul-Qaza, known in

common parlance as the shariat courts, has been operating in many parts of the country.The Dar-ul-Qaza is devised as a permanent alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

mechanism to resolve family disputes of consenting parties. Like in arbitration, if both

parties agree, instead of a civil court they may approach the Dar-ul-Qaza for resolution

of their disputes. The Dar-ul-Qaza does not issue fatwas. It also does not administer

criminal law; it simply resolves family disputes by applying principles of Islamic law,

which even civil courts are bound to apply in cases where both parties are Muslim



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In response to the petition, all the Respondents took a common stand. Broadly speaking,

their argument seemed two-fold -- first, that the Dar-ul-Qazas were not in the nature of

civil or criminal courts but were, in fact, institutions devised as ADR mechanisms. Like

other ADR mechanisms, this could also be used by consenting parties to resolve their

private disputes out of court; no one can be forced to acquiesce to the jurisdiction of

the Dar-ul-Qaza. Second, fatwas issued by clerics were merely their opinions on given

queries and like any other opinion they were not binding on anyone.

It agreed with the Respondents that a fatwa is merely an opinion and neither a fatwa

nor a decision of the Dar-ul-Qaza can be enforced like a court decree. According to the

Court, for this reason, neither a fatwa nor a decision of the Dar-ul-Qaza has any "sanction

under our Constitutional scheme." However, it categorically upheld both the establishment

and functioning of the Dar-ul-Qaza as well as the practice of issuing fatwas, adding

that "this does not mean that existence of Dar-ul-Qaza or for that matter, practice of

issuing fatwas are themselves illegal.

The Supreme Court judgment, though it could have been better-worded, is sensible. It

is mindful not only of the law of the land and the deplorable condition of Indian Muslims

but also of religious sensitivities in the country. It seeks to strike a judicious balance

among all three. However, the judgment does not make any practical difference to the

legal position as it existed till the day it was delivered. It will neither stop the self-seeking

ignorant mullas from issuing bizarre fatwas, which are an onslaught on the basic tenets

of Islam, nor prevent ill-informed people from publicly expressing their ostensibly

anti-Islamic prejudices under the garb of supporting the cause of equality before law.

Of fact, procedure, and principle Wed, Jul 2, 2014The Hindu, polity,

The practice followed by the collegium of the higher courts, before a candidate is

recommended for elevation and a panel of names is sent to the government for

appointment, is as follows The Chief Justice initiates a consultation with the legal

fraternity. Speaking in confidence to senior advocates and fellow judges, to both the

bar and the bench, a long list of possible candidates for elevation is prepared. Based

on these recommendations the Chief Justice then invites the candidates to determine

their willingness to be considered. If the candidates are willing then they are requiredto furnish details about themselves, such as their contributions to the law especially

with respect to important cases, the extent of their legal practice, their annual income,

their legal history, etc. These details are then processed by the court administration,

during which time, I suppose, the court gets inputs from relevant investigating agencies

about whether they have any legal proceedings against the candidate, etc. other inputs

that may make them ineligible for consideration.



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Based on (i) the recommendations of the legal fraternity, (ii) the willingness of the

candidate, and (iii) the hard data relating to the legal practice and public standing of

the individual, the file is placed before the collegium. The collegium then scrutinises

the information on record and, based on the highest standards of judicial scrutiny, arrives

at a decision on whom to recommend and whom to ignore, from the names before it.

Not every name that comes up through this process gets the approval of the collegium

Assuming complete information was available to the collegium, we now have to consider

the contrasting positions of the collegium and the government. Based on the same facts

considered by the collegium, the government is at liberty to give an alternative reading

and argue for the unsuitability of a particular candidate. This is legitimate since the

political lens of the government may be at variance with that of the collegium. The

disagreement, at this stage, has to be on political grounds and not on facts. The procedure

then requires the government to place its disagreement before the collegium which can

either restate its earlier recommendation or revise it in the light of the arguments made.

This second stage is constitutionally sacrosanct since contained in it is the core principle

of the separation of powers. The collegium has to deliberate on this contrary opinion

of the government and decide whether, by accepting or rejecting it, the independence

of the judiciary is eroded or enhanced. The decision that emerges from this review must

indicate where the power of decision in the last instance, lies, with the government or

with the court. Both parties must give clear reasons for their positions so that the final

decision taken can educate the public on the core issue of separation of powers. The

government's reasons and the collegium's views, as well as the facts of the matter,

should be made public to serve, as the Supreme Court in the P.J. Thomas case said, the

larger public interest.

Three basic issues for our democracy emerge from this controversy. The first is the

issue of public attitude.

The second issue concerns the doctrine of separation of powers. By segregating the

names, did the President give primacy to the executive over the judiciary?

The third issue concerns Gopal Subramanium's withdrawal of consent. By resigning

he prevented the issue from developing into a constitutional face-off between the

executive and the judiciary. Ronald Dworkin, the great legal and political philosopher,

in Taking Rights Seriously , recommends such a face-off since he believes that only insuch a situation will we be able to distinguish between just and unjust laws.









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in his note to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Justice Shah reasons that the retirement age of Supreme Court judges was increased to

65 as an "incentive" for High Court judges to leave the comfort of their hometowns

and come to New Delhi.

The note says it is time to introduce a three-year "cooling off" period for retired judges

before the take up positions offered by the government.

It recommends that the Chief Justice of India should get a fixed tenure of two years in

case their tenure as CJI is less than two years. This step should be implemented from

August 26, 2022 after the junior-most judge currently serving in the Supreme Court,

and who is slated to be CJI, retires.

The note says the JAC should be a seven-member body with the CJI as chairperson,

and three Supreme Court judges. Incidentally, the note has the Law Minister as the sole

representative from the government side "to ensure that the executive has a meaningfulvoice".

The note recommends the JAC to have a "full-time" Secretariat headed by a retired

High Court judge and a "small investigating team" to verify the antecedents of the

proposed candidates. This will do away with IB investigations.

The note wants the JAC to interview candidates in-camera; have the entire process

"publicly disclosed" with adequate safeguards in place to protect candidates' privacy;

and publish annual report on appointments made to ensure transparency. The JAC's

recommendation of a candidate is "ordinarily binding" on the President.

No executive takeover of judicial appointments: govt. Wed, Jul 30, 2014The Hindu, polity, judiciary, Judicial Appointments Commission,

Former Chief Justice of India V.N. Khare on Tuesday said Union Finance Minister

Arun Jaitley, at a consultation held between the Law Ministry and eminent jurists on

setting up a Judicial Appointments Commission, had promised that there would not be

a repeat of the pre-collegium days in the judicial appointments process.

Justice Khare supports the "dominance" of the judiciary in the Judicial Appointments

Commission. "We want judges to have dominance because they are acquainted with

the working of the judges shortlisted for selection. Unlike persons from outside, who

depend on IB reports, we [judges] keep a close watch on the work of the particular

judges and often come across their judgments,"



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'Collegium system: solution worse than the disease' Thu, Jul 3, 2014The Hindu, polity, judiciary, Collegium system,

Law Commission of India chairman Justice A.P. Shah lauded Chief Justice of IndiaR.M. Lodha's move to invite distinguished members of the Bar as judges of the highest

court.

he said the Judicial Appointments Commission was a step in the right direction to free

judicial appointments from "inappropriate politicisation." "Ultimately, the rationale of

having the Commission instead of the collegium system is to strengthen the quality of

appointments made, promote diversity and sustain public confidence in judicial system

But the Bill in its current form remained silent on transparency and offered no role to

the civil society in judicial appointments. "The mere setting up of a Judicial Appointments

Commission cannot solve the problem of the present system of appointment of judges

Restoring the judiciary's credibility Thu, Jul 24, 2014The Hindu, polity, judiciary,

Birth of collegium system The tussle between the executive and the judiciary for control

over the process of judicial appointments has its origins in what has come to be known

as the First Judges' case. In that case the Supreme Court, led by former Chief Justice

of India P.N. Bhagwati came down in favour of the executive stating that "the Chief

Justice of India, the Chief Justice of the High Court and such other Judges of the High

Court and of the Supreme Court as the Central Government may deem it necessary to

consult, are merely constitutional functionaries having a consultative role and the power

of appointment resides solely and exclusively in the Central Government."

In 1993 however, in the Second Judges' case, the Supreme Court led by former Chief

Justice of India J.S. Verma overruled the First Judges' case. According to Justice Verma,

in the actual working of this process, even the executive attached primacy to the role

of the Chief Justice of India in the matter of appointments to the superior judiciary. He

thus went on to hold that "the selection should be made as a result of a participatory

consultative process in which the executive should have the power to act as a mere

check on the exercise of power by the Chief Justice of India, to achieve the constitutionalpurpose."

This decision led to the birth of the collegium system of appointing judges to the higher

judiciary, the working of which was set out in the Third Judges' case by former Chief

Justice of India S.P. Bharucha. The collegium system of appointing judges to the High

Court is of particular relevance for our purposes; the collegium must take into account

the opinion of the Chief Justice of India which "would be entitled to the greatest weight,"



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the views of other Judges of the High Court who may have been consulted and the

views of colleagues on the Supreme Court bench "who are conversant with the affairs

of the concerned High Court."

Reforming process of appointments while the executive has no role in the appointment

of judges, in theory it continues to exert significant pressure on the collegium in practice.

Speaking in the Second Judges' case, Justice Verma opined that the collegium system

would ensure "the hyperbolic executive intrusion to impose its own selectee on the

superior judiciary is effectively controlled and curbed." If the Gopal Subramanium

episode and the allegations of Justice Katju are anything to go by, the exact opposite

seems to be happening.

Given the current state of affairs, the Judicial Appointments Commission would

somewhat institutionalise what is already happening in practice as it would consist of

the Chief Justice of India, the two seniormost judges of the Supreme Court, the Union

Law Minister, and two eminent persons.

Mr. Chavan held to account Tue, Jul 15, 2014 Election Commission, The Hindu, polity,

The Election Commission's order on the complaints of suppression of election expenditure

by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan may pose a threat to his immediate

political future, and of possible disqualification from contesting elections for three

years. However, he has escaped action for what could have been the more damaging

charge of procuring favourable coverage through 'paid news' in the media to further

his electoral prospects in the 2009 Assembly polls.

In recent years, the Commission has been trying to curb the 'paid news' phenomenon,

but there is no legal provision at present for punishment to those involved. What can

be done at best is to establish whether promotional poll campaign coverage was actually

paid for by candidates, and then proceeding against them for failing to include the

consideration involved in their expenditure statements. In Mr. Chavan's case, the

Commission has found that some newspapers published identical or similar articles

and material supplied by political sources and passed them off as editorial content.

However, it has declined to find him guilty, as the content was only general propaganda

for the Congress and did not aim to boost his prospects as a candidate. Its view thatethical journalism demands that even newspapers that support the political philosophy

of a party need to make a distinction between opinion and news columns is unexceptionable.

It will certainly be a major setback for Mr. Chavan, who successfully staged an electoral

comeback in the Lok Sabha polls after being made to resign as Chief Minister over the

Adarsh Housing Society scandal , to find himself in the political wilderness again if he

is disqualified, but it is some relief to him that the 'paid news' charge did not stick.



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Commissions of Enquiry have no contempt power, says SC Thu, Jul 24, 2014The Hindu, polity, power of contempt,

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has reiterated that truth in the

publication of a news item can be treated as defence in contempt of court proceedings.

The court, however, held that Commissions of Enquiry have no power to initiate

contempt proceedings against newspapers.

the Contempt of Courts Act had been amended and a provision had been inserted to

the effect that 'truth' could be claimed as a defence.

Dismissing the contempt proceedings, the Bench said "When a sitting Supreme Court

Judge is appointed as a Commissioner by the Central Government, he does not carry

with him all the powers and jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. We do not have any

doubt that functions of the Commission are not like a body discharging judicial functions

or judicial power. The Commission in our view is not a Court and making the inquiry

or determination of facts by the Commission is not of judicial character."

Polio vaccination of travellers from Pakistan 'ineffective' Wed, Jul 16, 2014 polio vaccines, The Hindu, international,

Alarmed by the spike in polio cases that occurred during 2013 and subsequently, the

World Health Organization declared in May this year that the international spread of

naturally-occurring 'wild' polioviruses constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Some 60 per cent of polio cases last year were, it said, the result

of the virus spreading to other countries and there was increasing evidence that adult

travellers had contributed to this spread.

Pakistan, along with Cameroon and Syria, were categorised as 'States currently exporting

wild polioviruses' and asked to take measures that included vaccinating international

travellers. (Equatorial Guinea was later placed in the same category.)

"Providing polio vaccines as part of a package of health services is a better way to

engage local communities and religious leaders than through a narrow, polio-specific

programme," he noted in the article. The emphasis on polio, to the neglect of otherhealth services, had long fuelled beliefs that polio immunisation was an external initiative

operating for outsiders' benefit.



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Repeating RTI applications shall be ground for refusal: CIC Fri, Jul 11, 2014The Hindu, polity, RTI,

Setting a new ground for refusal of information under the RTI Act, the Central InformationCommission has said filing of repeated RTI applications by an applicant seeking similar

information shall be a reasonable ground for rejecting the plea for which reply has been

given.

The citizens have no right to repeat the same or similar or slightly altered information

request under the RTI Act, 2005, for which he already got a response

To solve the problem of such repetitive pleas, the Commissioner recommended that

respondent authority should analyse all the RTI applications filed by such appellants,

compile all the questions and indicate the information provided against them.

"That consolidated information along with a background note based on facts, avoiding

unfounded allegations may also be placed on web site besides sending a copy to the

applicant and the concerned Information Commission," he said.

Priority Sectors in North East Wed, Jul 23, 2014 North East, PIB, polity,

the prioritized sectors and strategies devised for development of North Eastern States

during the 12th Plan

Faster development of Connectivity (Road, Rail, Air, Inland Waterways)

Roads:

major road connectivity projects like: East West Corridor, all stretches of SARDP-NE

connecting State Capitals and Districts, Trans Arunachal Highways, major bridges, etc.

Railways: Broad Gauge (line conversion) like Guwahati-Dibrughar-Tinsukia, Rangia

- Murkongselek Bridge (rail cum road) across Brahmaputra at Bogibeel, Lumding -

Silchar and Kumarghat - Agartala - Sabroom

Airways:

Airport Development works at Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Agartala, Shillong, Imphal

and Dimapur.

Inland Water Transport: Emphasis on development in the Brahmaputra and Barak

National Waterway.



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Special focus on Power Sector:

time bound implementation of transmission line projects for evacuation of generated

power like Comprehensive scheme for strengthening of transmission and distribution

in NER and Transmission system for evacuation of power from Palatana Gas Based

Power Plant etc.

Pursuing Look East Policy:

connecting North Eastern Region to South East Asia through Tri-lateral highway, focus

on development of Land Customs Stations (LCSs) for strengthening border trade and

business communication, expeditious implementation of Multi Modal transport using

Kaladan River as alternate connectivity to North East.

Development of Agriculture / horticulture / allied sector by focusing on increase in

productivity, irrigation, farm-based economic activities, post-harvest management,

marketing infrastructure etc.

Encouraging private investment by creating an enabling environment for investors and

rational use of local resources.

Special focus on water management / flood moderation to address the recurring flood

and erosion problem.

Focus on education / skill development / health by improving quality of education,

Investment in Teachers' Training, reforms in vocational education, development and

operationalization of Public - Private Partnership (PPP) models in education and creating

more medical colleges, nursing colleges and other health & technical institutes forprofessionals.

Planned Development of North-Eastern Region Fri, Jul 18, 2014mains, PIB, polity, north east,

I. Railways:

Master Plan for development of railway infrastructure in the North-Eastern States

includes:-

i) connectivity to all State capitals.

ii) unigauge broadgauge network in the region.

iii) augmentation of network capacity for handling growth of traffic in future

iv) expansion of network to unconnected areas of the region.



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v) Strengthening international borders.

vi) Improving trade and connectivity with neighbouring countries.

II. Telecommunication:

Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for North East Region (NER) includes :-

(i) Provision of 2G mobile coverage in identified uncovered areas.

(ii) Provision of seamless 2G mobile coverage along the National Highways in

NER.

(iii) Ensuring reliability of and redundancy in the transmission network at State

capitals and district headquarters in NER.

III. Roads:

Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East (SARDP-NE)

includesupgradation of 10141 km road stretches of National Highways and State Roads

aims to upgrade National Highways connecting State Capitals to 4 lane or 2 lane and

to provide connectivity to all 88 District Headquarter towns of NER by at least 2-lane

road.

IV. Power:

Development of power sector inter-alia includes:-

(i) Generation: A generation capacity addition programme of 5596 MW in the North

Eastern Region;

(ii) Transmission:

(a) A comprehensive scheme for strengthening of transmission and distribution system

in Arunachal Pradesh & Sikkim at an estimated cost of Rs.4754.42 crore;

V. Inland Waterways:

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has a mandate to develop National

Waterways including National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra) from BangladeshBorder (near Dhubri) to Sadiya for the purpose of inland water transport and Development

of Barak River from Lakhipur to Bhanga (121 km) as a National Waterway

at an estimated cost of Rs.141 crore at 2014 price.



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Centring the Northeast Sat, Jul 5, 2014 North East, The Hindu, polity,

The Northeast today needs a skilful politico-economic person who can take the regionout of its insurgency grip, mobilise leaders of substance and work out a decentralised

multi-level development strategy aimed at fostering the region's growth.

stuck in politico-bureaucratic status quo, even after Prime Minister Narasimha Rao

placed it under special focus as part of the Look East Policy in 1991.

half-heartedly in view of strategic and logistical problems emanating from sporadic

bursts of violence by terrorist and insurgent groups operating on both sides of the border.

The northeastern States account for about 8 per cent of the country's geographical area.

They share less than 2 per cent of their borders with other Indian States and share 98

per cent with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and the Tibetan region (of China). The

challenge is to convert this location disadvantage into an opportunity. This can be done

by opening up the seven-State gateway to more than millions of ASEAN consumers

for trade, commerce and education.

The Northeast can be rejuvenated by making the region a focal point for growth.

Removing the Restricted Area Permit and Inner Line Permit would help to integrate

the region with the rest of India.

A healthy economy, innovative tourism-oriented packaging of rich tribal heritage, and

projecting modern facets of society are the keys to solving this problem. The successof Nagaland's Hornbill Festival is one example of how the region can add to India's

cultural richness.

The Northeast has higher standards of living and literacy, but it also has an unbalanced

economy and suffers from a terrible industrial sickness. Except Meghalaya, all the

States in the region face a power shortage, despite the fact that the Northeast has a huge

reserve of hydroelectric potential (30,000 to 40,000 MW). Power apart, the region needs

special efforts for the development of world-class infrastructural network of roads and

railways, for strengthening the telecom sector, healthcare services, and tapping into the

agricultural industry and the region's rich biodiversity. It can also emerge as a hub for

higher education for the entire Southeast Asian belt.

We need to examine ways and means of creating a unified common market of nearly

40 million people which will provide a big boost to the economy of the region. We also

have to ensure a massive investment flow for infrastructural development on both sides

of the border in order to improve connectivity for trade and commerce. This will help

the emergence of local entrepreneurs. As it is, the Delhi-Hanoi rail link, trilateral



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highway project between India, Myanmar and Thailand, and some other initiatives have

got bogged down by red tapism and a lack of political will.

At the human level, there exists a big gulf between people from the hills and people

from the plains. This has resulted in creating a trust deficit. Recent ugly incidents in

Delhi have only reaffirmed the distance that separates the Northeast from mainstream

India.

In the long run, the Northeast, as an expert put it, can become a partner in "a wider

Brahmaputra-Yangtze-Mekong quadrant." Let us hope for the best. Over to Prime

Minister Modi.

Panel suggests separate law to protect northeast people Sun, Jul 27, 2014The Hindu, Bezbaruah committee, north east, polity,

A separate law with specific provisions to protect people from the northeast living in

different parts of the country along with amendment of sections of IPC has been

suggested by M P Bezbaruah committee that was set up after increased attacks on

citizens from the region.

The Bezbaruah Committee was set up after the death of Nido Tania, 20, following an

altercation with shopkeepers and others at the Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi in January.

The sources said that the committee, however, made no suggestion for enactment of

an anti-racial law but strengthening and proper implementation of existing laws.

The Terms of Reference of the committee were to examine the various kinds of concerns,

including those regarding security of people hailing from the northeast; to examine the

causes behind the attacks/violence and discrimination against them; to suggest measures

to be taken by the government to address these concerns; and to suggest legal remedies

to address these concerns.

Bezbaruah Committee submitted its report to Ministry of Home Affairs Fri, Jul 11, 2014 Bezbaruah Committee, PIB, north east, polity,

The Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri M.P. Bezbaruah, Member, NorthEastern Council and other members today submitted its report t

The terms of Reference of the Committee were as follows:-

(i) To examine the various kinds of concerns, including the concerns regarding security,

of the persons hailing from the North Eastern States.



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(ii) To examine the causes behind the attacks/violence and discrimination against the

people from the North-Eastern States.

(iii) To suggest measures to be taken by the Government to address these concerns.

(iv) To suggest legal remedies to address these concerns.

CJI hits out at Centre Tue, Jul 1, 2014cji, The Hindu, polity, collegium,

he segregation of Mr. Gopal Subramanium's name was done unilaterally by the Executive

without my knowledge and concurrence which was not proper."

At no cost the independence of the judiciary will be allowed to be compromised. I will

not hold my office if I feel that the independence of the institution of the judiciary has

been compromised.

Centre notifies rules for govt. staff under Lokpal Act Mon, Jul 21, 2014 Lokpal Act, The Hindu, polity,

As per the new rules, government employees have to file returns with details of cash

in hand, bank deposits, investment in bonds, debentures, shares and units in companies

or mutual funds, insurance policies, provident fund, personal loans and advance given

to a person or any entity, among others.

The employees need to declare motor vehicles, aircraft, yachts or ships, gold and silver

jewellery and bullion possessed by them, their spouses and dependent children.

The employees also to have to give details of their immovable properties along with

statement of debts and other liabilities on first appointment or as on March 31 of every

financial year.

The rules however, provide for the competent authority to exempt a public servant from

filing the information in respect of any asset if its value does not exceed his or her four

months basic pay or Rs 2 lakh, whichever is higher.

Though the system of declaration of assets and liabilities has been in vogue, the LokpalAct seeks to systematise it with additional information. While the Lokpal Act became

operational in 2013, rules framed by the then United Progressive Alliance government

on some of the provisions were contested by the Bharatiya Janata Party.



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Incentives to Industries to Boost Economic Growth Wed, Jul 9, 2014PIB, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor, economics, National Manufacturing Policy,

The Ministry has taken a series of steps to revive the industrial growth includingannouncement of National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) in 2011, simplification and

rationalization of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy, implementation of Delhi

Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, conceptualization of four more Industrial

Corridors viz Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor, Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic

Corridor, Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor and East Coast Economic Corridor,

launching of the e-biz Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan,

taking proactive steps for ease of doing business by taking stock of best practices across

states and endorsing them, identifying and simplifying the approval procedures etc.

North-East Industrial & Investment Promotion Policy, 2007, and specific programmes

like Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme, Indian Leather DevelopmentProgrammes etc.

16 National Investment and Manufacturing Zones(NIMZS) to Boost Manufacturin Wed, Jul 9, 2014PIB, economics, Manufacturing, nimz, industrial corridors, national manufacturing

policy,

In order to boost manufacturing sector, the government has already announced setting

up of sixteen national investment and manufacturing zones (NIMZs). The National

Manufacturing Policy (NMP) has the objective of enhancing the share of manufacturingin GDP to 25 per cent and creating 100 million jobs over a decade.

Till 2013-14, 16 NIMZs are being set up. Of these, eight are along the Delhi Mumbai

Industrial Corridor (DMIC). Besides, eight other NIMZs have been given in-principle

approval: (i) Nagpur in Maharashtra, (ii) Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, (iii) Medak in

Andhra Pradesh (now Telengana), (iv) Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh (v) Tumkur in

Karnataka, (vi) Kolar in Karnataka, (vii) Bidar in Karnataka, and (viii) Gulbarga in

Karnataka.

The project, spans the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,

Gujarat, and Maharashtra along the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) of theRailways. The DMIC Development Corporation (DMICDC), incorporated in 2008, is

the implementing agency for the project.

he Chennai-Bengaluru-Chitradurga industrial corridor (around 560 km) will benefit

the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

India and the United Kingdom have signed an MOU for the development of a new



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Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic corridor (BMEC).

A concept note has been prepared by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on an East

Coast Economic Corridor linking Kolkata-Chennai-Tuticorin and it has been decided

to initiate a feasibility study with the help of the ADB.

The government has, in January 2014, accorded 'in principle' approval for setting up

of an Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC) along a 150-200 km band on either

side of the Easter Dedicated Freight Corridor(EDFC) in a phased manner.

National Mineral Policy Mon, Jul 21, 2014 National Mineral Policy , PIB, economics,

The Minister of State for Mines, Steel and Labour & Employment, Shri Vishnu Deo

Sai has said that with the liberalization of mineral sector since 1993 which led to private

sector participation, mineral production depends broadly on availability of mineral

resources, economic viability, demand of market etc.

as per National Mineral Policy 2008, the conservation of mineral shall be construed

not in the restrictive sense of abstinence from consumption or preservation for use in

the distant future but as a positive concept leading to augmentation of reserve base

through improvement in mining methods, beneficiation and utilisation of low grade

ores and rejects and recovery of associated minerals. The Government is aiming for an

adequate and effective legal and institutional framework mandating zero waste mining

as the ultimate goal and a commitment to prevent sub-optimal and unscientific mining.

Production of Defence Equipment Fri, Jul 18, 2014defense, procurement policy, PIB,

the dual use items (having military as well as civilian applications) other than those

specifically mentioned in the list would not require industrial license from defence

angle.

As per the Defence Production Policy, 2011, Government aims to create conditions

conducive for the private industry to take an active role in production of defence

equipment, to enhance potential of SMEs in indigenization and to broaden defenceR&D base of the country.

214 Letters of Intent / Industrial Licences have been issued till June 2014 for manufacture

of a wide range of defence items to public / private companies.

Further, Defence Procurement Procedure has been amended to accord 'Buy (Indian)',

'Buy & Make (Indian)' and 'Make' categories of capital acquisition higher priority



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over other categories to encourage indigenous defence production in public and private

sector. In the Union Budget 2014-15, it has been announced that the composite cap of

foreign exchange is being raised to 49% with full Indian management and control

through the FIPB route.

LoP issue: Kharge meets Lok Sabha Speaker Wed, Jul 9, 2014The Hindu, LoP issue, polity,

Mr. Kharge said the Speaker has been told that the Congress is the single largest party

and the Leader of the Opposition post is now more important because of the LoP being

part of the decision-making process in the appointment of CVC and Lokpal.

He said the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977,

makes it abundantly clear that the single largest party should be given the LoP post.

"Representative of the party which has the largest number in the opposition should be

recognised as the Leader of the Opposition", he said, adding no rules can override a

statute.

PM launches MyGov portal to enable Govt-citizen discussions Sat, Jul 26, 2014 MyGov portal, polity, internet, Businessline,

In order to engage the youth of the country in the nation's development, the Government

on Saturday launched a portal where citizens can discuss and share thoughts, empowering

the people to contribute towards good governance through various tasks and discussions.

the portal -- MyGov -- will be a platform that empowers the citizen to contribute towards

Surajya.

MyGov presents an opportunity to citizens to both 'discuss' and 'do.' There are multiple

theme-based discussions on MyGov where a range of people would share their thoughts

and ideas,

Further, any idea shared by a contributor will also be discussed on these discussion

forums, allowing constructive feedback and interaction. Citizens can upload documents,

case studies, pictures, videos, and other work plans on the platform.

. The platform has also been divided into various groups -- Clean Ganga, Girl Child

Education, Clean India, Skilled India, Digital India and Job Creation.

Those who wished to go beyond discussions and contribute on the ground, MyGov

would offer several avenues to do so. Citizens can volunteer for various tasks and submit

their entries, which would then be reviewed by other members and experts.



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SC Constitution Bench to decide on `living will' to die with dignity Tue, Jul 15, 2014terminal diseases, living will, The Hindu, polity,

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will take up for consideration

on Wednesday a petition seeking to declare the execution of a `living will' of persons,

suffering from chronic terminal diseases and likely to go into a permanent vegetative

state, to refuse treatment to pave way for their death.

The PIL was referred to Constitution Bench by a three-judge bench. Mr. Bhushan

submitted that when a medical expert opined that the person afflicted with the terminal

disease had reached a point of no return, then they should be given the right to refuse

being put on a life support system to prolong their agony. The issue had been wrongly

referred by three judges as one concerning euthanasia, he said and added that it pertained

only to execution of living will to die with dignity when there was no hope of survival.

Mr. Rohatgi said the issue had lot of legal, social and moral aspects concerning the

humanity as a whole. He said right to die merely because of pain and suffering would

not be in the interest of society as it was against public policy. Any change in the law

could be brought about only by Parliament, he added and said the ruling in `Aruna

Shanbaug's case', which upheld the validity of passive euthanasia, was wrong.

Law Commission of India Submits its Report on Setting Up New Courts in the Mon, Jul 7, 2014 Law Commission, PIB, polity,

Some of the highlights of the conclusions and recommendations are as below:-

i) Recruitment of new judges should focus, as a matter of priority, on the number of

judges required to breakeven and to dispose of the backlog, in a 3 year time frame;

ii) Age of retirement of Subordinate judges be raised to 62.

iii) Special morning and evening Courts be set up for dealing with Traffic/ Police

Challan cases which constitute 38.7% of the institutions and 37.4% of all pending cases

in the last three years before the Subordinate Judicial Services.

iv) Recent law graduates may be appointed for short durations, e.g. 3 years, to preside

over these special traffic Courts.

v) Adequate provisions be made for staff and infrastructure required for the working

of additional Courts.

vi) High Courts be directed to evolve uniform data collection and data management



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methods in order to ensure transparency and to facilitate data based policy prescriptions

for the judicial system.

vii) Creation of additional Courts is one amongst various measures required to ensure

timely justice and facilitate access to justice. The Commission recognizes that apart

from increasing judge strength, many other measures have to be undertaken for reducing

delays, including the application of good judicial management practices such as putting

into place timeliness and performance benchmarks.

Chhattisgarh sticks to its stand that governors have no discretionary Fri, Jul 4, 2014Fifth Schedule, Down to Earth, tribals, governors, polity,

Chhattisgarh has maintained silence over the Supreme Court notice it received on a

petition challenging the functioning of its Tribes Advisory Council, an empowered

body for safeguarding interests of Schedules Tribes (STs) under Fifth Schedule of theConstitution.

the Chhattisgarh government has filed a response in the apex court, claiming parliamentary

democracy does not give discretionary power to its governors. Citing some earlier

judgements of the Supreme Court, the state claimed that the governor has no discretionary

power but has to depend on the aid and advice of the council of ministers in matters of

functioning of TAC.

The Chhattisgarh government has cited Ramjawaya Kapoor judgement (1955) and

Shamsher Singh judgement of 1974 whereas petitioner cited Bhuri Nath judgement of

1997, Samatha judgement 1997 and MP Lokayukta judgement of 2004.

The high court had accepted the contention of the Chhattisgarh government that governors

do not have discretionary powers in Fifth Scheduled areas and that they are bound by

aid and advice of council of ministers of the state government.

Targeting NGOs Fri, Jul 11, 2014 NGOs, Frontline, polity, Intelligence bureau,

The very first paragraph of the report states as follows: "A significant number of Indian

NGOs (funded by some donors based in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, the Netherlandsand Scandinavian countries) have been noticed to be using people-centric issues to

create an environment which lends itself to stalling development projects." It goes on

to specify the projects thus: "These include agitations against nuclear power plants,

uranium mines, coal-fired power plants (CFPPs), genetically modified organisms

(GMOs), mega industrial projects (Posco and Vedanta), hydel projects (at Narmada

Sagar and in Arunachal Pradesh) and extractive industries (oil, limestone) in the



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north-east."

The I.B. report paraphrases this as follows: "A small group of activists and NGOs at

times have succeeded in shaping policy debates in India. Apart from that, in some cases

it is observed that in a cyclical process, an NGO is set up, funds are obtained from

abroad, a few articles are commissioned, a PR firm is recruited and, slowly, with the

help of the media an image is created. And then awards are procured from foreign

countries to enhance the image, after which government machinery finds it more difficult

to act against the awardee."

In India, the plans of multinational corporations such as Vedanta, Posco and Monsanto

have faced resistance not only from mass movements but also from the judiciary. Their

projects involve massive displacement of people, especially indigenous tribal communities,

in various parts of India.

Kudal Commission

Indira Gandhi had initiated the Kudal Commission of Inquiry against NGOs. "This

comparison imparts a kind of historical significance to the present report and the related

actions that would emanate from it. In many ways, it necessitates and facilitates a

recount of the NGO-civil society involvement in the Indian political and developmental

space," he said.

The Kudal Commission, headed by Purushottam Das Kudal, was set up in 1982

immediately after Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980. The premise for setting up

the commission was that a number of NGOs in the country were funded and controlled

by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and that they were trying todestabilise India. The Kudal Commission report is still not available comprehensively,

but indications are that it did uphold Indira Gandhi's premise that the CIA was involved

with many major opposition forces and leaders during that period.

Reforming statutory codes Wed, Jul 9, 2014legal reforms, The Hindu, laws, polity,

The Bharatiya Janata Party manifesto identifies 'reform [of] the legal system' to make

it more 'accessible to the common man' as a key policy objective for the new government.

too much of the academic and policy debate on the reform of statutory codes has focussed

on two problems: first, desuetude (old and outdated laws) and second, over regulation

(too many laws). However, a law's vintage is not the primary basis for judging its

utility. Further, we cannot identify whether there is over regulation unless we can show

that identical contexts are over determined by two or more legal rules. Moreover, it is

not the volume of regulation but its contradictory effects that should be the focus. In



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this essay we propose that the primary and urgent problem for statutory reform is 'unruly

and inaccessible regulation' and a coherent institutional response to this problem will

effectively set the stage to tackle the problems of desuetude and over regulation as well.

The first step is to create a central repository of all existing Central laws, and the rules

and regulations of the various regulatory bodies and executive agencies. However, the

maintenance, availability and accessibility of these resources are seriously compromised,

and there is no assurance that the online versions are authoritative statements of the

law that may be relied upon in legal proceedings. The preliminary step should be to

clean up this database, confirm its legal authority and ensure that all legislation,

amendments and subordinate legislation are available together in one place and searchable

by subject matter. Only if this activity is carried out expediently and with diligence and

care will the next step become feasible, which, as we explain, is critical for the problems

of desuetude and over regulation to make themselves visible.

The next step is to create a subject-based compilation of all existing laws and regulations,akin to the United States Code (USCo) and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

The legal authority of such a subject-matter code must also be clear. There is not much

point in undertaking this herculean task of rearranging existing laws by subject matter

if the resultant rearrangement cannot be relied upon by the users of the law.

The benefits of this type of consolidation are undeniable. For one, it replaces the 20 or

more laws that are likely to be applicable on a given subject with one comprehensive

code. This process intrinsically overcomes desuetude and overregulation. Significantly,

unlike an ad hoc repeal exercise, this type of consolidation will resolve inconsistent

laws, clarify ambiguities in the law on a particular subject, and restate the law subjectusing a consistent drafting style and consistent word choices while leaving no 'gaps'

in the law.

The reform of statutory codes in India is an idea whose time has arrived. The popular

perception of the Indian legal system is now couched in the language of ridicule and

humour rather than respect and inspiration. However, the ad hoc culling and editing of

laws to respond to perceived problems of desuetude and over regulation is likely to

create more problems than it solves. A national project to reform the statutory codes

through the steps outlined above is our best hope to put the legal system reform on

well-grounded and sustainable foundations.

President rejects six mercy petitions Sun, Jul 20, 2014mercy petition, death penalty, The Hindu, polity,

In January, the Supreme Court had ruled that "inordinate and inexplicable" delays in

hanging were grounds for commuting a convict's death penalty and had spared 15 death



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row convicts from execution.

IPV offers better protection from polio virus Wed, Jul 30, 2014

polio, polio vaccine, The Hindu, science & tech, health,

Within days of the government announcing inclusion of injectable inactivated poliovirus

vaccine (IPV) in the immunisation programme, a study done in India has shown that a

dose of injectable inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) given to children aged between

1-4 years who had been vaccinated with oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) boosts intestinal

immunity to poliovrius offering substantially greater benefit compared to an additional

dose of OPV.

The finding backs the use of IPV vaccine -- included in the national immunisation

programme on July 3 -- to accelerate polio eradication by boosting herd immunity in

endemic regions, prevent international spread by travellers, and minimise the risk of poliomyelitis outbreaks due to imported wildtype or vaccine-derived polioviruses.

Inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) does not induce an intestinal mucosal immune

response, but could boost protection in children who are mucosally (oral or gut) primed

through previous exposure to OPV.

These children were healthy, had not received IPV before, and had had their last dose

of OPV at least six months before enrolment.

The substantial boost in intestinal immunity conferred by a supplementary dose of IPV

given to children younger than five years who had previously received OPV shows apotential role for this vaccine in immunisation activities to accelerate eradication and

prevent outbreaks of poliomyelitis, the authors point out.

SC restrains States on giving remission to life convicts Wed, Jul 9, 2014remission powers, The Hindu, polity, life convicts,

A five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices

J.S. Khehar, J. Chelameswar, A.K. Sikri and Rohinton Nariman passed the restraint

order till July 22, when the matter relating to the release of life convicts in the Rajiv

Gandhi assassination case would be taken up for hearing.

issued notices to the States seeking their response by July 18 to seven questions, including

whether they could exercise their remission power under Section 435 Cr.P.C.



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Legalising intelligence gathering Tue, Jul 8, 2014The Hindu, right to privacy, polity, Intelligence Services Act,

Intelligence reform cannot succeed unless it is dovetailed with police modernisationand both technological and human capabilities of State police personnel are upgraded

The late B. Raman, one of the doyens of external intelligence who had been privy to

the report during drafting, was mildly supportive of its findings while commenting on

the Naresh Chandra Committee on Defence and Security reforms' access to it. He felt

it remained peripheral at best.

First, activities of all major intelligence agencies should be founded on a legal basis.

There should be a law or separate laws to specify the existence, functions and jurisdiction

of all such organisations. Though emerging initially from clandestine origins, this has

been the pattern of evolution of all modern intelligence organisations functioning indemocratic countries. The CIA in the U.S. was provided legal status by the National

Security Act, 1947, the Russian FIS by the Law on Foreign Intelligence Organs, 1996,

the MI-5 in U.K. by the Security Services Act, 1989 and the MI-6 by the Intelligence

Services Act, 1994. In Harman &Hewitt vs U.K. , the European Court of Human Rights

ruled in 1992 that the 'lack of a statutory basis could be fatal to claims' of an intelligence

agency to justify that its actions 'were in accordance with the law.' With the Right to

Information Act having become a reality in India, though some aspects of intelligence

activity and operations remain protected outside its ambit, unless we quickly provide

legal status protection to our agencies we could be waiting for a Harman & Hewitt to

happen here as well.

Second, and most important, such legislation must provide a legal basis for different

tiers of oversight and accountability of Intelligence agencies -- executive, financial and

legislative.

Third, recruitment to intelligence organisations must be made open to induct the best

available talent, and also to cater to varied needs and different streams. Intelligence

collection and operations are highly specialised functions, only some of which can be

imparted through systematic professional training. Language skills, in-depth knowledge

of strategic issues, cultural mores of target countries, computer know-how and other

technological skills may all be needed at different stages of assessing any intelligenceinput. These capabilities cannot be developed overnight by everybody, or by personnel

joining an intelligence agency as a temporary haven. It has to be a lifetime profession

where skills should be progressively honed.

The fourth important aspect is Intelligence co-ordination. Apex-level political decisions

on security issues are taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which is

assisted by a core group of bureaucrats, including heads of Intelligence agencies.





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beneath the lawful limit has proven exceedingly difficult under the watchful, and now

recorded, gaze of the Election Commission. In order to keep expenditure sheets in the

green, campaign expenses are increasingly channeled through political parties.

The Commission operates with a procedural distinction between candidate and general

party canvassing. For instance, even though a candidate may feature prominently on

the dais at a public rally, as long as his or her name, constituency and photograph are

not mentioned or displayed, the political party absorbs the entire cost of the event.

. As candidate expenditure confronts increased scrutiny, campaign expenses are migrating

to party exchequers for which stringent controls are notably absent.

National Water Policy Thu, Jul 31, 2014water, national water policy, environment, PIB, drinking water,

The objective of the National Water Policy, 2012 is to assess the existing situation and

to propose a framework for a plan of action with a unified national perspective.

The salient features of national water policy (2012) are as follows:

1. Emphasis on the need for a national water framework law, comprehensive legislation

for optimum development of inter-State rivers and river valleys.

2. Water, after meeting the pre-emptive needs for safe drinking water and sanitation,

achieving food security, supporting poor people dependent on agriculture for their

livelihood and high priority allocation for minimum eco-system needs, be treated as

economic good so as to promote its conservation and efficient use.

3. Ecological needs of the river should be determined recognizing that river flows are

characterized by low or no flows, small floods (freshets), large floods and flow variability

and should accommodate development needs. A portion of river flows should be kept

aside to meet ecological needs ensuring that the proportional low and high flow releases

correspond in time closely to the natural flow regime.

4. Adaptation strategies in view of climate change for designing and management of

water resources structures and review of acceptability criteria has been emphasized.

5. A system to evolve benchmarks for water uses for different purposes, i.e., waterfootprints, and water auditing be developed to ensure efficient use of water. Project

financing has been suggested as a tool to incentivize efficient & economic use of water.

6. Setting up of Water Regulatory Authority has been recommended. Incentivization

of recycle and re-use has been recommended.

7. Water Users Associations should be given statutory powers to collect and retain a



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portion of water charges, manage the volumetric quantum of water allotted to them and

maintain the distribution system in their jurisdiction.

8. Removal of large disparity in stipulations for water supply in urban areas and in rural

areas has been recommended.

9. Water resources projects and services should be managed with community participation.

Wherever the State Governments or local governing bodies so decide, the private sector

can be encouraged to become a service provider in public private partnership model to

meet agreed terms of service delivery, including penalties for failure.

10. Adequate grants to the States to update technology, design practices, planning and

management practices, preparation of annual water balances and accounts for the site

and basin, preparation of hydrologic balances for water systems, and benchmarking

and performance evaluation etc.

Rising intolerance against NGOs and free speech Tue, Jul 8, 2014 NGOs, Down to Earth, polity, civil society, intolerance,

Activists say attack on freedom of expression is indicative of a deteriorating democracy

Amid concerns about diminishing free speech in Sri Lanka, the government has issued

a new directive, barring NGOs from holding press conferences, workshops and training

programmes.

The Lawyers' Collective and the Lawyers for Democracy criticised the move as being

a blatant violation and curtailing of the fundamental rights of citizens as enshrined in

and guaranteed by the Constitution under the right of expression and association. "The

Ministry of Defence does not enjoy any specific legal authority under any statute

whatsoever to control freedom of speech and association of citizens, who act collectively

through civil society organizations," the Lawyers Collective was quoted as saying in

the Colombo Telegraph. The release, the Collective said, further strengthened the

allegation that Sri Lanka has now become an authoritarian state.

In a country that sees civil society as its biggest challenge since the opposition is weak,

this is not the first attempt to regulate NGOs. In April, President Mahinda Rajapaksa

had ordered External Affairs Minister G L Peiris to look into formulating laws to monitorthe funding of foreign NGOs. The laws would be enacted to monitor the entire process,

including auditing and accountability for these NGOs so that they do not act in a manner

"inimical to the state", the president said.

"The government wants a hands-off policy from donors, and thus prefers countries like

China which provides assistance without being too concerned [about other issues],"

Harim Peiris, a Colombo-based political analyst and a one-time spokesperson for former



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President Chandrika Kumaratunga told IPS News. China is second to Japan as Sri

Lanka's largest lender of development assistance.

Since the end of the island nation's decades-long ethnic civil war in 2009, during which

Tamil rebels (LTTE) demanding regional autonomy for their community, human rights

organisations say the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has made little

progress in ameliorating pervasive human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings

of Tamil civilians, disappearances following detention by security forces and the

weakening of checks on executive power through media freedom and judicial independence.

A report by an advisory panel to the UN secretary-general has accused both the LTTE

and the Sri Lankan government of alleged war crimes during final stages of the civil

war. In March this year, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) authorised the High

Commissioner of the HRC to investigate if human rights abuse occurred.

The development in Sri Lanka follows in the wake of similar move to muzzle civil

society in India. Soon after the Narendra Modi-led BJP government assumed power atthe Centre, India's Intelligence Bureau submitted it a classified document, identifying

several foreign funded NGOs that are "negatively impacting economic development"

of the country. A significant number of these NGOs have been noticed to be using

people-centric issues to create an environment which lends itself to stalling development

projects, read the report.

While NGOs like Greenpeace have rubbished the report, saying that the intent of their

campaigns are deliberately misunderstood and that this is a conscious attempt to crush

and stifle opposing voices in the civil society, several other NGOs are worried about

the intention of the government.

While there is no denying that NGOs should be transparent about their funds--in fact

the Ministry of Home Affairs already keeps a tab on NGO funding and their international

donors because only those organisations registered with the Foreign Contributions

Registration Act are eligible to receive funds from foreign donors--the government

should also be concerned about issues raised by these NGOs.

Its directive on July 1, prohibiting NGOs from holding press conferences and workshops,

appears to be a reaction at public criticism by some NGOs and activist groups at the

government's support for the radical Buddhist supremacist organisation, known as

Bodu Bala Sena or BBS. The government was widely criticised for not preventing or

arresting those behind a BBS-inspired pogrom against Muslim communities on June

15 and 16.



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Government favours Aadhaar-NPR synergy Fri, Jul 4, 2014 NPR, The Hindu, National population register, polity, Aadhaar,

In a bid to clear confusion and duplication between the National Population Register(NPR) and Aadhaar cards, the NDA government has decided to explore the possibility

of a synergy between the two ambitious projects of the previous UPA government.

The Home Ministry has already suggested that the NPR and Aadhaar schemes be merged

under the Registrar General of India (RGI) or division of work between the two should

be in such a way that enrolment is done entirely by NPR while the Unique Identification

Authority of India (UIDAI), which runs Aadhaar, carries out deduplication ahead of

generating the unique number.

The Home Minister has already set a three-year deadline to identify genuine Indian

citizens through the NPR project. The government also wants enumerators to conductdoor-to-door verification and issue NPR cards to Indian nationals only.

It is also planning to link NPR to voting rights which would mean that voter ID cards

would not be the sole document for eligibility to vote, officials said.

Officials with Doubtful Integrity Wed, Jul 30, 2014PIB, cvc, polity, Corruption, rti,

Other steps taken in the recent past to effectively combat corruption include:-

(i) Enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005;

(ii) Enactment of Lokpal & Lokayuktas Act, 2013;

(iii) Issue of comprehensive instructions on transparency in tendering and contracting

process by the CVC;

(iv) Issue of instructions by the CVC asking the organizations to adopt Integrity Pact

in major Government procurement activities; State Governments have also been advised

to adopt Integrity Pact in major procurements;

(v) Introduction of e-Governance and simplification of procedures and systems;

(vi) Issue of Citizen Charters;

(vii) Ratification of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2011;

(viii) Placing of details of immovable property returns of All Members of the All India

Services and other Group 'A' officers of the Central Government in the public domain;



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(ix) The Whistle-blowers Protection Act, 2011 (No. 17 of 2014);

Law Commission Report on 'Death Penalty' Sat, Jul 19, 2014 Law Commission Report, death penalty, EPW, polity,

t ran counter, Sinha noted, to the diktats of Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab , 4 which

remains the central law governing capital punishment in India. Here, the Supreme Court

had ruled that

The consequences of Ravji were disastrous. At least 15 criminals had been sentenced

to death as a result of the decision, and for two of them - Rao and Ram - the Supreme

Court's admission of its own error had come too late.

the court pointed out that even after its declaration that Ravji had been erroneously

decided, it had continued to render irrelevant a criminal's socio-economic backgroundin determining the sentences of numerous convicts.

In a letter dated 1 July 2012, the group implored the government to commute the

sentences of 13 persons in seven different cases to life imprisonment. Capital punishment

in each of their cases, the retired judges pointed out, had been awarded based on a

now-admittedly flawed application of the law. "This matter goes to the very heart of

our Constitution and the system of democratic government", they wrote, "because it

involves the taking of lives by the state on the basis of judgments admitted to be

erroneous by the Supreme Court."

Recently, the Supreme Court had to intervene to commute to life imprisonment the

sentences of 15 convicts on the death row. In Shatrughan Chauhan vs Union of India

9 the Court ruled that an unreasonable delay in disposing a mercy petition filed by a

person on the death row was tantamount to torture, and was valid ground for commuting

his or her death sentence. 10 For instance, in the case of Gurmeet Singh, one of the

petitioners before the Supreme Court, there had been a delay of more than seven years

in the disposal of his mercy petition by the governor and the president. As a result,

Singh had spent 26 years in custody - more than double what most convicts sentenced

to life imprisonment undergo.

There is, the commission believes, a woeful lack of research on the issue of deathpenalty in India in spite of the glaring iniquities highlighted in the Supreme Court's

jurisprudence.

The challenges in Bachan Singh were made on three primary grounds. First, the death

penalty infracted the six freedoms comprised in Article 19(1) of the Constitution. Since

capital punishment served no clearly identifiable social purpose, and since its deterrent

effects were unproven, at best, it was argued that it could not represent a reasonable



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restriction on the right to human dignity of an individual. Second, it was contended by

the petitioners that capital punishment contravened the right to life and personal liberty

guaranteed by Article 21. Post Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India , 13 the procedure

established by law through which the right to life and personal liberty could be curtailed

had to be just, fair and reasonable. In other words, our Constitution, according to theSupreme Court, guaranteed not merely procedural but also substantive due process.

And the death penalty, the petitioners in Bachan Singh argued, was opposed to the

fundamental tenets of due process - which required the state to treat each person's life

with equal importance. Third, and finally, it was argued that the vice of arbitrariness

permeated the law of capital punishment in India. In bestowing the court an unhindered

discretion in determining when to grant the ultimate sentence, the law, according to the

petitioners, violated Article 14 and its guarantee of equality.

The majority of judges in Bachan Singh , however, rejected each of these submissions.

14 Curiously, the Court concluded that penal laws could almost never infract the rights

mentioned in Article 19(1). As Justice Sarkaria wrote,

Second, the Court held that neither Section 302 of the IPC, which allowed courts to

sentence people to death for committing murder, nor Section 354(3) of the CrPC,

violated Article 21. Therefore, even if the death penalty violated a person's right to

life, it would be justified so long as the procedure fixing such punishment was just, fair

and reasonable, in accordance with Article 21

However, with a view to guiding the sentencing process, the majority in Bachan Singh

further ruled that in cases of murder, the death penalty ought to be the exception as

opposed to the rule. Capital punishment, according to the Court, could be inflicted only

in the gravest cases of extreme culpability, and in making the choice of the sentence,

in addition to the circumstances of the offence, due regard must be paid to the circumstances

of the offender, also.

In Machhi Singh vs State of Punjab , 18 a three-judge bench of the Court fell into a

trap that the majority in Bachan Singh had been careful to avoid. It sought to define a

"rarest of rare" case by providing concrete examples of different categories of cases

where the community's "collective conscience is so shocked that it will expect the

holders of the judicial power centre to inflict death penalty". Consequently, as opposed

to the death sentence being awarded only in cases where the alternative option was

foreclosed by a supposed inability to reform the offender, capital punishment wasconsidered the appropriate penalty for murder purely on the basis of the nature and

characteristic of the crime.



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Are you listening in on me? Thu, Jul 10, 2014article 21, The Hindu, cell phone, right to privacy, polity,

In what could be a shot in the arm for champions of individual privacy the world over,the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that a law enforcement agency could not search

a telephone belonging to a suspect or any other person without obtaining a search

warrant from the competent judicial authority. The investigator may have entered some

premises under a lawfully obtained warrant. But if he chances to come by a telephone

in the building, he would need another authorisation to examine the instrument to

explore whether it had any stored information pertaining to the probe.

The State attorney argued that there were twin dangers in waiting for a court order:

one, a phone could be used to trigger a timed explosive device and two, waiting for a

judicial approval could facilitate the person under investigation obliterating vital

information contained in the phone that could otherwise establish his criminality or of anyone acting in concert with him.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision came a few months after it heard two cases in

which the defendants questioned the validity of evidence collected by the police following

a warrantless search of their telephones.

There are two fundamental issues here. Telephones, especially the handy mobile phones,

have become ubiquitous and are being used by their owners to store vital information,

not only because of the convenience involved, but the confidentiality they afford.

Second, in the hands of investigating agencies they become an invaluable tool from

which to ferret out evidence. It is our experience that even the most unlettered and

inarticulate investigator these days resorts to a cell phone to search for the missing

pieces as soon as he sets off for an investigation.

The Indian police are especially known for their arbitrariness. Respect for the statutory

procedure is minimal, especially with regard to fundamentals of criminal investigation,

such as prompt registration of a complaint, search of a crime scene and the arrest of a

suspect. Non-registration of complaints, informal and illegal detention of suspects and

searches without a warrant are a regular feature. When this is the case it may be

preposterous to demand that the examination of the contents of a phone must be preceded

by court permission. As far as we know, courts do not take umbrage at the practice of investigating officers using questionable methods to collect data contained in a phone.

In fact, no questions are asked by the judge, and he simply laps up what is presented

without checking how exactly the material was seized. It may take decades for us to

make it obligatory for investigating agencies to obtain an exclusive warrant to examine

the contents of a telephone. An apex court ruling on the subject will greatly help.

The relevant law in our country is Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 as



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amended in 1972, which permits interception by the prescribed authorities during a

'public emergency'. Orders authorising such interception shall be passed after due

application of mind and after recording reasons for doing so.

Two Supreme Court rulings are relevant here to highlight how the power to intercept

telephonic communications are to be exercised keeping in mind Article 21 (dealing

with the right to life and personal liberty) and Article 19(2) (which empowers government

to impose reasonable restrictions on the citizen's enjoyment of fundamental rights). In

Hukam Chand Shyam Lal v Union of India (1976), the Court observed that the power

to intercept could not be "unguided and unbridled", and said that only "public emergency"

permitted the exercise of such authority. In the PUCL v Union of India (1997), the

Court declared that "public emergency" and the "interest of public safety" were the

only criteria that permitted telephone monitoring.

Pursuant to the procedural safeguards mandated by the Court in the PUCL case, the

Indian government incorporated Rule 419A in the Indian Telegraph Rules 1951 (amendedin 2013) which requires a Review Committee both at the Union and State levels that

would ensure that all orders of interception were reasonable and justified, and did not

extend beyond 90 days in the ordinary circumstances, and 180 days in extraordinary

situations.

In our view the law on the subject of telephonic interception is reasonably clear and

enough safeguards have been built into it. Nevertheless there is a feeling of civil servant

arbitrariness driven from the backstage by political executive caprice and malice. This

is dangerous and it does not augur well for the future of our democracy. The trend

should be one of more and more restrictions on the power rather than any liberalisation.

The unbridled growth of terrorism should be handled separately by a stringent law, and

it should not be used as an alibi to further erode the liberties of the average citizen who

is proved to be not mixed up with anti-national elements who subscribe to terror and

disruption.

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